Working Paper: NBER ID: w27177
Authors: Jonathan Smith; Joshua Goodman; Michael Hurwitz
Abstract: We provide the first estimated economic impacts of students’ access to an entire sector of public higher education in the U.S. Approximately half of Georgia high school graduates who enroll in college do so in the state’s public four-year sector, which requires minimum SAT scores for admission. Regression discontinuity estimates show enrollment in public four-year institutions boosts students’ household income around age 30 by 20 percent, and has even larger impacts for those from low income high schools. Access to this sector has little clear impact on student loan balances or other measures of financial health. For the marginal student, enrollment in such institutions has large private returns even in the short run and positive returns to state budgets in the long run.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: I24; I26; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Enrollment in USG institutions (I23) | bachelor's degree completion rates (Y40) |
| Access to USG (L98) | household income (D19) |
| Access to USG (L98) | household income (low-income high schools) (I24) |
| Access to USG (L98) | student loan balances (G51) |
| Access to USG (L98) | financial health indicators (G32) |
| Enrollment of marginal student (I24) | net present value (G00) |
| Access to USG (L98) | state budgets (H72) |